Re: Dermatitis

UC IPM has instructions for managing poison oak:  http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7431.html
If you're thinking about clearing the plants by burning them... DON'T. Here's why:


Each year, poison oak and poison ivy cause about two million cases of skin poisoning serious enough to require either medical attention or at least restricted activities. Poison oak poses a serious risk to firefighters, according to Jerry Jeffries, safety and health specialist at the Missoula Technology & Development Center. "It's an extremely disruptive problem," says Jeffries. "Depending on the fire season, it can affect thousands of people. We have to send people home, because they get sick and we have to get them away from the fire line."

Respiratory emergencies resulting from inhalation of dust or smoke from burning plants are extremely rare among the general population, but common with firefighters. Immediate attention is required, and treatment should include maintaining a patent airway and administering intravenous corticosteroids. "We have the problem of getting poison oak stands on fire," says Jeffries."Then firefighters inhale the smoke and get it in their lungs. It causes blisters, which break and run. The heavy particles of the smoke contain the poisonous resin; it falls down in soot form. When it's inhaled, the lungs swell, causing coughing and extreme irritation and swelling in the throat. It makes breathing near impossible, and can be life-threatening."

Kelly Anderson, Contributing Editor, "Wildland Firefighter" Magazine 1997    http://wildfirenews.com/fire/articles/oak.html



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